First Weekly Media Assignment

Where do I stand now?
Yes! Where do I stand now within the race, gender and media imbroglio! This question came through my mind after the first week of class. As a matter of fact, I came to this class with a string of set conceptions concerning the relationship between races and genders in this country. Yet, this first week of class has opened up a broader avenue of opportunity for me to better grasp the main concepts that play within the debates over race and gender.

I really had a general idea of the relationship between races mainly geared toward racism without really paying attention or just knowing the difference between the concepts. The readings were an opportunity to know the difference between prejudice, discrimination and white privilege. Before I took this class, they all fell within the scope of racism, period.
This also can explain the extent to which the white privilege concept is extremely relevant to this class. It helps better understand how races differ in terms of opportunity in this country.

When reading through the 46 conditions that are more linked to skin-color privilege I finally understand how white people are not even aware of the advantage they have over other races.
For instance, in crash, when the white police officer called that black healthcare provider, he even did not know that he was talking to a black woman. It is not until she told him her name (Shaniqua Johnson, a name mostly from blacks) that he knew that the other person on the phone is black. From there the conversation completely turned bitter. This tells us that black people do not have the privilege to choose a name that would actually make them an entire part of this country. A white American has the privilege to get a name that would “sounds more American”. Barack Obama’s name is a vivid example of that privilege. People sometimes judge him just based on his name.

Now after the first week of class, I do know that there are little parameters, generally taken for granted that add up and yield the whole picture of the relationship between races and genders.
After listening to Tim Wise and reading Peggy McIntosh a lot of images are flowing in my mind but I have an example that really explains it all. On April 4th, I had an accident in Oklahoma City. A white girl ran the light and directly hit my car. The car was completely damaged. While we stayed in the car waiting for the police, the white lady that was following me came to us and said: “I was making sure that you guys are doing fine, yet I will stay here till the police comes.” We waited for more than an hour and had to move our cars to the parking lot to make room for traffic. Suddenly the police officer came in and said. “who is driving this car.” “That’s my car sir,” I said.He then suddenly said: “I will give you the ticket”. In fact the officer did not even ask about the circumstances of the accident. I was so irritated that I started yelling at the officer.
Suddenly, the white lady that volunteered to stay till the police came was my savior as she was able to say what actually happened. The other amazing thing was that one of my neighbors who happened to be black was following me and knew about the accident too. Yet when the officer was asking for information I also pointed at my neighbor as a witness. Yet, the officer refused to ask him about what happened. He just trusted the white lady who was there just to help me knowing what would happen without a witness. In this example, two white privileges emanate from the circumstances. First, you are presumably at fault when you are a black person involved in an accident with a white person. Second, white people tend to be trusted by white officers when they want information about an accident they did not witness.

This is one of many examples that have strengthened my belief that white privilege is not a vain word. It does exist. White privilege has been at the core of many measures or laws that govern race relations in this country today. Ignoring its existence adds in to the already lingering issues that prevent this nation to heal itself from years of denial. The white privilege concept should stimulate awareness on both sides, "the dominant race” and other “minorities”.